I Am So Lost Right Now

[arabookworm]

Hi, I was just told today that I would have to be gluten free. I was just wondering, just how necessary is it that i cut out everything with gluten? or could I just cut out bread and pasta and other obvious gluten sources? because i don't really have gluten free food in my house at the moment.

[mushroom]

Hi, and welcome!

Are you telling me that you have no meat, no fruit, no vegetables, no nuts or seeds, no rice??? Do you really mean that? No cheese, no bacon? What do you eat??

[arabookworm]

Hi, and welcome!

Are you telling me that you have no meat, no fruit, no vegetables, no nuts or seeds, no rice??? Do you really mean that? No cheese, no bacon? What do you eat??

well, I'm in college, so I have about a cup of dry rice, a couple of yogurt cups, and some frozen veggies. thats basically it.

[mushroom]

Are you on a college meal plan or do you live off campus? That is, do you prepare your own food or do you have to eat in a dining hall? And I guess, the main question, do you know how to cook? That will make a big difference on how we can help you. For tonight, I guess you will have to have a veggie stir-fry over rice. - no soy sauce unless it is Tamari or La Choy

[Juliebove]

You will need to cut out all gluten.

When I was your age I pretty much lived on trail mix that I made myself. Nuts, seeds, coconut, a little dried fruit, maybe some chocolate or carob chips. It was cheap and filling.

I also ate a lot of spaghetti. You can buy spaghetti made of rice or corn. It does cost a little more than the wheat kind.

I also ate a lot of popcorn. In those days I used an air popper. Now I pop it in a pan with coconut oil.

I also ate whatever fresh raw veggies I could afford. I loved big salads!

[arabookworm]

Are you on a college meal plan or do you live off campus? That is, do you prepare your own food or do you have to eat in a dining hall? And I guess, the main question, do you know how to cook? That will make a big difference on how we can help you. For tonight, I guess you will have to have a veggie stir-fry over rice. - no soy sauce unless it is Tamari or La Choy

I do know how to cook, I was just sort of stressed because very few of the ingredients I have on hand are gluten free. however, I'm going to go shopping for a few supplies within the next two or three days, and I just found out that the cafeteria on campus has a gluten free section. So it isn't seeming so bad today.

[arabookworm]

quick question: does chocolate have gluten in it?

[ciavyn]

Depends on the chocolate. most don't, unless they have cookie crumbs or something in them. But some are a risk because they are processed in plants that also process wheat. I avoid Godiva for that reason. But I've never had a problem with Cadbury's or Hershey's.

[arabookworm]

so the cafeteria's gluten free food made me want to cry. a friend swiped me in since I don't have enough gluten free food to last the week, and the stuff is just so gross. so now i need ideas for cheap, fast, easy foods I can have. they also have to be pretty low fat and sugar, as both have been upsetting my stomach a lot lately.

[zimmer]

so the cafeteria's gluten free food made me want to cry. a friend swiped me in since I don't have enough gluten free food to last the week, and the stuff is just so gross. so now i need ideas for cheap, fast, easy foods I can have. they also have to be pretty low fat and sugar, as both have been upsetting my stomach a lot lately.

Some suggestions - fresh veggies already cut up, like baby carrots, sugar snap peas, snow peas. bananas. apples in peanut butter - get one of those apple slicers and that's a quick one. Try Lara Bars - a little pricey but filling. My daughter sticks them in her backpack. Nuts - like cashews, almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds. Raisins, dried apricots, craisins. Canned mandarin oranges, peaches, pineapple, applesauce. Chex cereals - rice, corn, honey nut, cinnamon. Fritos. Mission tortilla chips & salsa. Canned tuna in water. Cheese sticks. Gluten free ham & turkey (Hormel). Put any of these on lettuce or spinach & top with olive oil & lemon (yum). Carnation Instant Breakfast. Ok, I'll stop now!

[Marilyn R]

White beans mixed with gluten-free tuna in Olive Oil (watch out for natural vegetable flavor, which could be a source of gluten in the tuna in water). If you can add anything like chopped onion, celery or olives (a friend could bring those back from the salad bar perhaps?... have that over lettuce or on it's own and it fills you up.

Cheap gluten-free Foods:

Potatoes (white and sweet), easy to zap in a microwave.

Rice

Eggs

Corn tortillias

Seasonal fruits and vegetables

Meat on sale

Cabbage is so cheap and so good for you raw or cooked. If you add some seasonings it can be really delicious. A little meat, a lot of rice (brown is better) or potatos, lots of cabbage and some spices served many people who went through the great depression.

Do you have access to a kitchen, or just a dorm room? Stove? Oven? Crockpot? Microwave? (Assuming you have at least a refrigerator due to mention of the frozen vegetables.) Hope we can help, good luck!

[arabookworm]

White beans mixed with gluten-free tuna in Olive Oil (watch out for natural vegetable flavor, which could be a source of gluten in the tuna in water). If you can add anything like chopped onion, celery or olives (a friend could bring those back from the salad bar perhaps?... have that over lettuce or on it's own and it fills you up.

Cheap gluten-free Foods:

Potatoes (white and sweet), easy to zap in a microwave.

Rice

Eggs

Corn tortillias

Seasonal fruits and vegetables

Meat on sale

Cabbage is so cheap and so good for you raw or cooked. If you add some seasonings it can be really delicious. A little meat, a lot of rice (brown is better) or potatos, lots of cabbage and some spices served many people who went through the great depression.

Do you have access to a kitchen, or just a dorm room? Stove? Oven? Crockpot? Microwave? (Assuming you have at least a refrigerator due to mention of the frozen vegetables.) Hope we can help, good luck!

i live on campus in an apartment with my brother. so I have a kitchen, but very little by the way of supplies and foods as of right now. but those ideas sound pretty good, I'm going to at least have to get some potatoes. thanks!

[GlutenFreeManna]

Some suggestions - fresh veggies already cut up, like baby carrots, sugar snap peas, snow peas. bananas. apples in peanut butter - get one of those apple slicers and that's a quick one. Try Lara Bars - a little pricey but filling. My daughter sticks them in her backpack. Nuts - like cashews, almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds. Raisins, dried apricots, craisins. Canned mandarin oranges, peaches, pineapple, applesauce. Chex cereals - rice, corn, honey nut, cinnamon. Fritos. Mission tortilla chips & salsa. Canned tuna in water. Cheese sticks. Gluten free ham & turkey (Hormel). Put any of these on lettuce or spinach & top with olive oil & lemon (yum). Carnation Instant Breakfast. Ok, I'll stop now!

All great suggestions except for the carnation instant breakfast. The ingredients may have changed, but last I read they were not gluten free.

[zimmer]

All great suggestions except for the carnation instant breakfast. The ingredients may have changed, but last I read they were not gluten free.

From a post on this board - "Thank you for visiting Open Original Shared Link We always appreciate your comments and questions about NESTLE( CARNATION( INSTANT BREAKFAST( and how our complete nutritional drink may fit into your daily meal plan or just your morning routine.

In response to your inquiry, some flavors of CARNATION INSTANT BREAKFAST contain gluten. In the ready-to-drink form, all flavors, with the exception of Strawberry Creme, contain gluten. In the powder form of CARNATION INSTANT BREAKFAST, Chocolate Malt flavor contains gluten. The source of gluten is not wheat, it is barley gluten which is found in the flavoring. The flavor is 4.2% malt syrup of which 2% is gluten. The other flavors are gluten-free."

edited here - Boy am I wrong.... just read the label... last ingredient wheat starch! oops sorry. I let my gluten-eating children have it occasionally so I guess I wasn't so careful since I don't eat it. I just remember looking it up briefly out of curiosity, and finding the above plus a few other references in other places.

Also - if you are celiac, your brother may be, too!

[GlutenFreeManna]

From a post on this board - "Thank you for visiting Open Original Shared Link We always appreciate your comments and questions about NESTLE( CARNATION( INSTANT BREAKFAST( and how our complete nutritional drink may fit into your daily meal plan or just your morning routine.

In response to your inquiry, some flavors of CARNATION INSTANT BREAKFAST contain gluten. In the ready-to-drink form, all flavors, with the exception of Strawberry Creme, contain gluten. In the powder form of CARNATION INSTANT BREAKFAST, Chocolate Malt flavor contains gluten. The source of gluten is not wheat, it is barley gluten which is found in the flavoring. The flavor is 4.2% malt syrup of which 2% is gluten. The other flavors are gluten-free."

edited here - Boy am I wrong.... just read the label... last ingredient wheat starch! oops sorry. I let my gluten-eating children have it occasionally so I guess I wasn't so careful since I don't eat it. I just remember looking it up briefly out of curiosity, and finding the above plus a few other references in other places.

Also - if you are celiac, your brother may be, too!

Yeah, you always have to double check the ingredients AND check with the manufacturer if it's not clear from the package whether it has gltuen in it. Don't go by posts on this board only because products change so often. Always look at the date the post was made too so you know how current the info is.

[thindery]

Yeah, you always have to double check the ingredients AND check with the manufacturer if it's not clear from the package whether it has gltuen in it. Don't go by posts on this board only because products change so often. Always look at the date the post was made too so you know how current the info is.

Cereal can be your best friend!

My wife has to be gluten free so I keep her stocked on chex cereal(rice, corn, honey nut) and post brand fruity pebbles. If i'm not home to cook, she will just eat cereal. You can also eat the cocoa pebbles too.

Also you can still eat grilled chicken(kraft bbq sauce is safe) and vegetables. We cook a lot of rice. If you want flavored stuff check by the buillon cubes. I found a concentrated liquid chicken flavoring to use that is gluten free. I add in half a tsp to some rice and it is a quick side dish.